[MR] From Her Majesty Arielle

[Courtney Hester]

Greetings Unto the good people of Atlantia from Her Queen, Arielle,

Good gentles, as many of you know, His Majesty and Myself are very
passionate about Newcomers. As We stated in Our previous Acorn letter, We
will be holding "Newcomer's Courts" at the events that We attend.  These
provide an opportunity for new people to meet Us and ask any questions that
they might have about the SCA. This past weekend, We held the first one of
these courts at Beyond Chivalry and it was a rousing success. There were
approximately 35 people in attendance and an estimated 30 of these were new
people, the majority of whom were at their first event.

We will be holding another Newcomer's Court on Saturday at Sapphire Joust at
1pm under the Royal Pavilion.  We would ask all Chatelaines, Baronage,
Seneschals and anyone else who may know of new people attending Sapphire
Joust, to make the newcomers aware of the Newcomer's Court. It does not have
to be someone's first event for them to be a newcomer for these gatherings.
Anyone who has only been participating for a short time and is still
learning their way around the SCA is welcome to attend and ask questions
or simply come and listen.

Sapphire Joust will also be the debut of Our Youth retainer for the day
program. Young people will have the opportunity to retain for Myself (ie Her
Majesty) or to act as a Court escort at events where Baroness Sunniva Kyrre,
who is Our Youth Retainer coordinator, is in attendance. If they choose to
act as a retainer to the Queen, they will have the opportunity to serve the
Queen directly as a retainer, working in conjunction with adults for
set shifts during the day.  If they choose to participate in the Court
Escort program, they will be providing escorts to those who need them
during royal court. Regardless of which area of participation they
choose, Youth Retainers will receive a special baldric to wear while
participating, identifying them as a representative of the Queen. Currently
the age for participation starts at 9 years old.

If you have a young gentle that would like to participate, please contact
Baroness Sunniva either beforehand at Sunniva_kyrre at verizon.net (which is
preferred), or simply contact her directly at the event. Parents of youth
who wish to participate MUST sign a participation permission slip for
their young scadian with Baroness Sunniva the day of the event.

We are looking forward to a wonderful weekend at Sapphire Joust.

In Service to Atlantia and All Her People,

Arielle
Imperatrix